Discouraged about weight gain

changling82

I've been at it for almost 2 weeks now, and the first week I lost 5 pounds, but I got on the scale this morning and have GAINED 2 pounds. I've been going to the gym or working out at home 5-6 times each week for an hour to an hour and a half each time. I've been eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day. What gives? Could it be muscle gain? Could I be eating too much protein? I've been eating between 80 and 130 grams of protein a day.

hill242

It's probably just normal weight fluctuation.

chelamg12

Don't stress too much about it...I was at three weeks of no weight loss and moving up to almost 3 lbs over my lowest weight and finally lost 1 lb. I know it isn't much but you need to look at this process as long term. Continue doing what you are doing and little by little it will come off....STRENGTH...because luck has nothing to do with it.

jrich1

I've been at it for almost 2 weeks now, and the first week I lost 5 pounds, but I got on the scale this morning and have GAINED 2 pounds. I've been going to the gym or working out at home 5-6 times each week for an hour to an hour and a half each time. I've been eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day. What gives? Could it be muscle gain? Could I be eating too much protein? I've been eating between 80 and 130 grams of protein a day.

You arent going to gain muscle in 2 weeks, but probably a mixture of you arent eating enough (1200 cals and working out 6 times a week you might need to eat more) and normal flucuation of weight.

ashlee954

I only looked at the last week of your diary but it looks as though you are not eating nearly enough. You are supposed to eat 1200 calories on top of anything burned through exercise. Sometimes it looks as though you are only giving your body 800 cals a day to work with. Just be careful you do not throw your metabolism out of whack. This is when weight gain occurs. Your metabolism slows dramatically, as it thinks you do not have enough food to support it. It takes a while to fix your metabolism if that happens so I would try and eat at least 1200 cals (1500 for males) per day on top of any cals burned through exercise. MFP already figures in a calorie deficit to make you lose the weight you entered in as what you wanted to lose per week. I wasn't eating my exercise cals at first and couldn't shed a pound. Then I upped my intake by 300 cals/day and boom I lost 13 lbs in 6-7 wks. Just a thought...

FitnessTim

Two weeks is not enough to call it a trend. Heck the average person probably gains and lose 2 pounds during the course of the day. What I do is weigh myself everyday without judgement or analysis. What I analyze is the trend over the course of a few weeks or even a month.

The important thing to track is calorie deficit over time. If you consistently consume less calories than you burn you will lose weight. As Ashlee said, be careful not to starve yourself or you will disrupt your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight.

I give myself breaks from dieting one every 5 days or so and actually eat more than I burn. When you do that starved muscles have a chance to grow and your energy level may increase.

Good luck and don't give up.

ashlee954

Two weeks is not enough to call it a trend. Heck the average person probably gains and lose 2 pounds during the course of the day. What I do is weigh myself everyday without judgement or analysis. What I analyze is the trend over the course of a few weeks or even a month.

The important thing to track is calorie deficit over time. If you consistently consume less calories than you burn you will lose weight. As Ashlee said, be careful not to starve yourself or you will disrupt your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight.

I give myself breaks from dieting one every 5 days or so and actually eat more than I burn. When you do that starved muscles have a chance to grow and your energy level may increase.

Good luck and don't give up.

Very well said!

Memah

This is something I haven't understood. So I'm eating between 1200-1300 cals per day, exercising for at least an hour and a half at the gym five days a week, and biking at home on the weekends.

I see that as I exercise my calorie goal increases. Am I supposed to try to eat to that? My nutritionist says no. I am confused.

It's actually hard to get in 1200 calories, believe it or not, and I like to eat. I believe I'm eating good foods, not high in fat or sugar.

Yeah, what gives here?

emersoam

I would suggest that you eat far more calories for breakfast (300-400) instead of only 150. This is the best time to eat healthy calories and jump start your "engine" for the day! You also have a lot of extra exercise calories left over each day, so eat half of them! Either that or you could be over-estimating your calorie burns during workouts. If you're not using a quality heart rate monitor, you're not getting an accurate count of your burns. Exercise machines and MFP are not accurate for most people and most activities.

ashlee954

This is something I haven't understood. So I'm eating between 1200-1300 cals per day, exercising for at least an hour and a half at the gym five days a week, and biking at home on the weekends.

I see that as I exercise my calorie goal increases. Am I supposed to try to eat to that? My nutritionist says no. I am confused.

It's actually hard to get in 1200 calories, believe it or not, and I like to eat. I believe I'm eating good foods, not high in fat or sugar.

Yeah, what gives here?

It is always best to consult a doctor first and get their recommendations of course but typically 1200 (women) and 1500 (men) are the minimum cals you're supposed to eat ON TOP of what is burned through exercise. So 1200-1500 NET cals. Of course we all have different bodies but that number is pretty accurate. There are certain circumstances where doctors will recommend a higher or lower caloric intake but it is a great rule of thumb. Eating below 1000 NET calories is typically a bad idea all around. Sure, weight will initially come off but when your metabolism slows then it gets harder to burn even those few calories. Then if you start eating more your body stores it. I was a nutritionist before switching career paths towards respiratory and I always recommended eating exercise calories. At least enough to make sure the 1200-1500 NET cal goal was reached.

jamie1888

Could I be eating too much protein? I've been eating between 80 and 130 grams of protein a day.

I just want to add that 80 - 130 is not too much protein. And protein is usually an unlikely culprit for weight gain. And yes, agree with everyone.... look at the trend over time. I agree, it's VERY frustrating to see the scale go up at all. I too weigh myself everyday and cringe when I see that number go up a pound or two. But, I know that I'm exercising and eating right, so it can't possibly be actual weight gain. Normal fluctuations, water retention, bowel movements; many things can contribute. And as much as I know it to be true, I find it difficult to want to eat most of my exercise calories. But, I have to admit, when I'm eating most of those calories, that's when I notice the weight drops.

saychzzz

Be sure to eat 1200 calories a day. Without that, your body hangs on to everything you have to preserve itself. Drink lot's of water and be sure not to let yourself get constipated. Just hang in there and keep going and one week it'll just start falling off. I don't know what you're drinking but be careful of caffeine- it makes you retain water. If you are building muscle, eventually that will increase your metabolism and you'll burn calories faster so don't give up on your exercise! Good luck. It'll get better!

changling82

Thanks for all of the responses!

I Guess i'll try and eat more of my exercise calories. It's just hard to do that. As it is I'm eating all day long, and sometimes even when i'm not hungry. I find i'm especially not hungry after I work out at night, so I find it harder to consume my exercise calories. I wish I could exercise in the morning, but it's just not possible.